Caleb huffs. “Ah, so that’s all I’m here for, to be your tie-breaker,” he signs.
“Atnopoint did I say that was all you were here for, C,” I remark. “It just so happens that it’s very handy to have a third party here to judge a playful disagreement. One of the benefits of a triad, I suppose.Besides, you guys both planned this trip. If anyone’s a third wheel here, it’s me.”
“And yet I’m the one sleeping alone in my tent tonight, by the looks of it. I take it Cameron decided he was going to bunk with Brody?”
“Yeah. Can’t say that I blame the kid, who wants to snuggle up with their dad at his age? Besides, Brody’s tent is twice as big as yours.”
“Well, I bet if we told the boys about Lauren and me tonight, I would be snuggling up with someone who thinks I’m pretty cool for my age,” he rebuts.
Lauren’s attention flits back and forth between the two of us while we bicker. There’s an amused expression on her face. “What’s that look for?” I ask her.
She snickers. “You always want to callusan old married couple, Marco. You two are certainly gunning for that title right now.”
I grin. “It’s all in good fun. I mean”—I give Caleb an apologetic look—“I hope you know I’m just kidding.”
He shrugs casually, taking a bite of potato salad.
“C, seriously? We always used to mess around like this, and you know I meant no harm by it back then.”
“I know.”
“There’s no competition here. There isn’t a hierarchy. No odd men out. You make Lo happy; that makes me happy. That’s what I’m all about here…”
Lauren leans over the back of my chair and gives me an upside-down kiss on the forehead. “He makes meveryhappy. He told me he loves me tonight. Just a little bit ago, actually.”
I beam. An earnest smile splits across my face hearing that news. I look up at Caleb to find the brightest shade of red tinging his cheeks. “That’s awesome,” I tell them both. “I’m seriously so ecstatic for you.”
“You don’t think it’s too soon?” he asks me.
I scoff. “You sound like you’re asking me for permission you don’t need. As you told me before, you two have your thing going on and what I think or feel doesn’t factor into that equation. What you two have is something just for the two of you, and you are the ones who get to decide how fast is too fast. If you feel it already, I think that’s wonderful.”
Does that niggle of worry about Lauren and me still tickle my brain a little? Sure, but I think that’s just human nature, right? Monogamy has been the gold-standard for relationships for so long, it’s only natural to worry a little about going against what’s been hardwired in place. One thing is for certain, however, it wasn’t an understatement when I said that if he makes Lo happy, then I’m content.
Suddenly, I hear Lauren’s stomach rumble behind me.
“Here, have my hot dog. I’ve already gorged on enough potato salad anyway.” I pass Lauren the paper plate. “C, you want a wiener too?”
“Sure. Thanks.”
“In your mouth or up my ass?”
He chuckles, the angry looking scar on his throat bobs as he does so quietly. “In a bun with some ketchup and a little relish, actually.”
“Yikes, the relish might sting a little, but you know me. I’ll give anything a try once. Twice, if I like it.” I wink at him.
He fixes me with an unamused expression. “Remind me again why we invited you to come along?”
“Because you can’t resist me,” I reply smugly with a saccharine sweet smile, batting my eyelashes at him. And when I get up to go grab a hot dog from the package for him, I press a sloppy kiss on his cheek just to drive the message home.
What I don’t expect in return is for him to grab my chin and tug me back for another kiss, this one not so playful. No, this one tells me that he’s tried his damndest to forget all about me—us—and everything weshared, and that the pull to find our way back together again was too hard to resist. And fuck me, if I’m not right there, in that same boat with him.
“Okay,” Lauren sighs, dragging out the O. “Nowthatis pretty fuckin’ hot. Jesus Christ, find me a friggin’ fan or something…”
I smirk against his lips, and I feel him don a reciprocal grin. When I pull away, he signs, “No. For some fucked up reason, I can’t resist you.”
The boys come back after the sun has already gone down, the three of us adults having watched it descend below the horizon in an array of warm colors in a comfortable quiet. Pepper has made himself a nest on my lap as I’m kicked back in my camp chair. And yes, I’m rocking my nightshirt, which both my partners convinced me I looked fine enough in to wear out—even with no flannel pants, since it’s muggy out tonight.
Caleb has a hammock he brought, and he and Lauren were snuggled in it together—all adorable as hell, by the way—until they heard Brody and Cameron’s laughter nearing our site. Lo scrambles up so quickly, it nearly dumps Caleb out the other side. I run my fingers through Pepper’s fur and chuckle at the awkward scene of the two of them floundering around, trying not to be discovered.
